Locked
by cazness
Summary: WARNING: season 3 spoilers alert. takes places after 03x06, kate comes back ONESHOT


**A/N hey guys! its been a while since i wrote anything, what with year 12 and all. but now im finished, and coz ive got nothing to do, there'll be lots more coming! so yeah, in a fit of boredom I came up with this, something to fill in the stupid 3 month void of lost I guess! i hope you enjoy! oh and please reveiw, i love any constructive critism!**

**oh yeah, and i dont own lost... i wish i did, coz then the stupid triangle would have never existed...**

Jack was leaning against the cool bars of an outdoor cage. He had been moved from his under water prison to above ground so as to be closer to the hospital facilities and to Ben, incase any serious complications occurred. He was staring out into the trees, unconscious of the world around him, deep in thought. No matter how hard he tried, he could not erase the vile image from his mind – Kate sleeping with Sawyer. When he had stumbled into the surveillance room a few days before, and witnessed the unpleasant scene, he felt an emptiness that he had never felt before, a sadness taking over his soul, a feeling that wouldn't disappear. Jack had always known that there was something between those two, but he had never thought she would have slept with him, not like that. It made him feel physically ill, and he leaned over to dry wretch. He felt so stupid for loving yet another woman who betrayed him.

But there was something else, something far more complicated, gnawing at him.

When he had spoken Kate on the walkie-talkie and told her that she had an hour to run, she at first refused to go, repeatedly saying, "I can't leave without you." At first he had figured that she had felt obliged to say that, but later on Juliette had told him about the circumstances Kate was in at the time, witnessing Sawyer having a gun pointed to his head. If she truly loved Sawyer, then why hadn't she immediately tried to save him? Why hadn't she bolted at the first opportunity? Instead, why had she felt she couldn't leave without him? Of course, Jack had eventually forced her to leave, and as planned, and hour later she had called in, robotically repeating the story he had told her on their first meeting, to let him know that she, and Sawyer were ok. But something had been missing from her voice, and Jack wondered what had happened in that hour that she was refusing to tell him.

A soft rustle in the undergrowth broke he train of thought. He turned around in time to see a curly headed woman jumping out of a rather large tree to the ground. Still feeling slightly nauseated from the mental images he had seen in the room, Jack glared at her for the few moments as she approached his prison, before walking to the furthest corner of the cage, turning his back on her.

It was too painful to look at her.

He waited until her heard her tread stop short before sighing, trying to steady his emotions. Without turning around, he said in a rough voice _"god damn it Kate, what are you doing here?"_

There were a few moments of silence behind him, but he still refused to turn around. Finally, in a husky voice she replied _"I told you I couldn't leave without you"_

Jack leant forward to rest his head on the bars, closing his eyes as he did so. _"Where's Sawyer?"_ he asked in a pained voice, not really wanting to know the answer

" _Back on our island. Jack.. I need to expla-"_

"Explain what Kate? Explain that you love Sawyer and not-" 

" _Is that what you think? You think I love Sawyer?"_ she asked laughing bitterly.

" _Well what am I'm meant to think Kate? You slept with him, you slept with him in that cage right over there. And don't you dare deny it. I saw it with my own eyes"_ he replied, utterly disgusted, still unable to face her.

Kate stood shocked, trying to register what he had just said. She knew he had seen it. That had been the point. But she never thought he would be this upset.

"Jack, please, will you just -" 

"_Go home Kate. Please. Just leave me alone." _He interrupted, absolutely heartbroken. _" I can't do this. Not now"_

He thought he had finally gotten through to her as he heard her walk away. There was a slight rustle and a soft thud behind him and then silence. Somewhat relieved, but sad that she had left, he continued to lean against the cool bars, breathing heavily for a few minutes before finally turning around.

"Jesus Christ Kate!" 

She had climbed up the walls of the cage, had dropped through the roof and was now sitting cross legged in the dirt, leaning against the metal base of the cage, her tear stained face staring defiantly up at him.

" _I'm not leaving until I explain. If you let me do that, with out interrupting, then I'll go, if that's what you really want"_

"_Fine"_ he told her, resigned to the fact that he had no choice. He slid down to the ground at the furthest point away from her, mimicking her position. "_explain to me why you slept with Sawyer_"

"_When we first arrived, they forced me to wear a dress- no stop smirking_ (for even though he was still extremely upset, the image of Kate in a dress was, well amusing) _– and brought me down to meet Ben on the beach. He had set up this elaborate breakfast thing and forced me to join him, making me handcuff myself. On the beach he told me that the next to weeks were going to be the most painful, horrible weeks of my life. He told me that he had made me wear a dress so that I could feel like a woman for the last time. He then sat there in silence and watched me eat. After I was done, he got these two men to take me to this room and locked me in there. After a while he came in with another prisoner and forced him to sit down in a chair, telling me to sit opposite him. Ben then told me, that if I didn't do exactly what I was told to do, they would kill you on the spot."_ Kate looked down to the ground as she said this, not wanting to see his reaction.

"_And then, to prove he wasn't lying… Jack, he… he killed the other prisoner right in front of me"_ Her voice had become hollow, and Jack noticed the trail of tears falling from her face.

"_What? So you slept with Sawyer to save my life? Come on Kate, how am I supposed to believe that?"_

"_they told me… they told me that if you didn't do the surgery on Ben, they would kill you. I had to do something Jack, I couldn't let you die"_

"_why not Kate? You didn't know they would hurt me, not for sure. Why would you do something like that Kate? How can you trust them?"_

" _I don't trust them Jack, which is exactly the reason why I slept with Sawyer. Do you really think I would risk losing you? I did what I had to do to ensure that you would do the surgery and live. And I won't ever regret it either" _She faced him again, looking into the depths of his eyes. He broke the gaze and glanced away, unsure of his feelings, before abruptly standing up and turning to look out the cage, at the dark clouds forming close by, trying to sort his thoughts out.

"_I don't know Kate, I just don't know what to believe. There's always been this connection between you and Sawyer, and whenever I tried to get close to you, you refused let me near. You always run from me, straight into the arms of Sawyer. I've tried so hard but you keep… you keep rejecting me"_

Kate pulled herself off the ground, understanding that this moment might never happen again. Taking a deep breath, she crossed the cage and stood behind him, resting her hand on his shoulder. He flinched slightly at her touch, but neither pulled away.

" _Think about it Jack. You saw how easily I can get in and out of this cage. I told you, I couldn't leave without you, and I meant it. I could have run at any time with Sawyer, but I chose to stay, because I knew I couldn't free you"_

Jack turned around at this, a small frown upon his face. It was true, she had stopped running away from her problems, Hadn't he witnessed that first hand today? He searched her eyes, desperately seeking an answer, and she stared intently back. The dark clouds overhead finally burst, sending a cascade of rain down on top of them, but neither noticed, both locked in the moment. Finally banishing all the fear surrounding her, she leant in his shoulder and whispered into his ear,

"_Jack, I've loved you from the first moment we met, when you asked me if I knew how to sew. I just had to grow up enough to stop feeling frightened of how I felt."_

He smiled, finally content, and pushed her back slightly. He softly brushed her long wet hair off her face and closed the gap between them, gently kissing her on the lips.

And this time she didn't run.


End file.
